1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support mechanism for a retractable handle of a wheeled luggage for protecting the bottom thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, a wheeled luggage comprises a luggage body made of fabric or plastic material, a handle grip assembly, a pair of parallel sliding tubes provided on a side of the luggage, a pair of support tubes for receiving the sliding tubes and allowing the sliding tubes to slide therein, a bezel assembly for securing the support tubes, a base support, and a pair of wheels provided on a side of the bottom of the luggage wherein the base support is provided on the interior of the luggage and is in cooperation with an outer plate for securing the bottom portions of the support tubes therebetween by means of, for example a plurality of screws or bolts, and each wheel is secured onto the bottom of the luggage by means of a stand.
This conventional wheeled luggage can be found in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,000 and Taiwanese Publication No. 241,474 (announced on Feb. 21, 1995). They are advantageous being possibly fabricated from commercial available components. However, such wheeled luggage are disadvantageous for the following reasons:
1) Tedious and time-consuming in the assembly process.
2) Monotony in form.
3) The bottom of the luggage, including the portions near the wheels and the portion between the wheels, is subjected to be damaged when the luggage is in contact with other sharp objects, such as moved on the ground.
It is thus desirable to provide a protection device for preventing such portions from being damaged by e.g., scraping.
A couple of designs for providing such protection device have been located in a search as follows:
Taiwanese Publication No. 205,651 (Application No. 81,216,373) discloses a handle grip assembly for a retractable handle of a wheeled luggage wherein a protection device for a support is provided. It is designed to mold each bottom of the support tubes to be a flat part in order to be secured onto the outer surface of an L-shaped stand by means of rivets or bolts. However, this is unsatisfactory for being inconvenient in assembly, and the width of the protection device is simply slightly larger than that of the support tube. As such, it is difficult to enlarge the width of the protection device. Even if the width of the protection device is enlarged, the assembly process is further tedious.
Taiwanese Publication No. 331,096 (Application No. 86,218,980) discloses an improvement base support mechanism for a retractable handle of a wheeled luggage, and Taiwanese Publication No. 341,075 (Application No. 87,204,434) discloses an improvement device for stabilizing a base support mechanism for a retractable handle of a wheeled luggage. Both are simple in construction, and easy in assembly. However, these two designs are unsatisfactory for having a pair of exposed for securing the support tubes and the base support. In other words, the securing elements are not received within the luggage, and thus, the whole luggage is somewhat ugly in its appearance although the construction of the base support is improved.
Accordingly, the need remains for an improved and satisfactory base support mechanism for a retractable handle of a wheeled luggage in order to overcome the above drawbacks of prior art.